Drinking Buddy
by DancingDaffodils
Summary: Set at the beginning of "Mother" and before Emma reconciled with her parents. After learning what they did to Maleficent and Lily, Emma is the one to find herself in need of a drinking buddy, this time. When she drops Henry off at the Mills Mansion for the week, she finds it in Regina, eager to repay the favor. They sit around and drink an unusual beverage. One-shot.


Emma knocked three times on the front door of the Mills Mansion. Regina and Emma now shared custody of Henry. Ever since they rescued their son in Neverland, the two had grown as friends. And, they realized the boy simply had two mothers and that they could not write the other off his life, whether it was to their liking or not. So, Emma was here to drop Henry off for the week.

Henry rushed to Regina as soon as she opened the door and he gave her a hug before disappearing into the house. Regina was in a much better place now that Robin and romantic love at large were back in her life despite the huge obstacle that was her sister pregnant with him. But she had not always felt better during the last few weeks. Ever since Robin had to leave with Roland and the pretend Marian, without any possibility to ever come back, as they initially thought, her grief had not allowed her to be the mother she wanted to be for her son. And Henry had simply missed her.

"Bye, kid!" Emma smiled and waved at her son although he was already too far away to hear her. It made Emma chuckled. Kids were unbelievable at times. But her smile soon disappeared from her face. Without Henry, she did not want to go back to the apartment she shared with her parents. And she had enough of Killian telling her to forgive them. She was not ready yet. Did they not understand that? Did she not had the right to be mad? What they did to her friend Lily and to Maleficent, what they did to her, what it made her feel could not just disappear like that, in an instant. It took time.

"You look like you could use a drink!" Regina told Emma in a kind voice, inviting her to come into her house.

"More like a whole bottle," Emma replied with the hint of a smile, accepting the silent invitation by entering the mansion. "I hope you have something stronger than what you served me last time," she carried on, teasing Regina. Her company was already cheering her up. Emma turned towards her while the latter was closing the door behind them.

"And yet, if I recall correctly, you crashed into a city sign and were arrested for driving under the influence," Regina teased back, catching up to Emma's level before leading her into the kitchen.

"There was a wolf…" Emma was cut off.

"Right, a wolf." Regina folded her arms, raised her eyebrows and smiled. She invited Emma to sit down on the nearest stool, which she did while she was preparing their drinks. "Besides, it's not the type of drink that you need," Regina carried on.

"It's not?" Emma asked half-surprised, half-teasing. Regina nodded with a smile. "And what do I need then, your majesty?" Emma carried on, teasing her with the use of the title.

"A comfort drink," Regina told her as thought it was obvious.

"And what that shall be?" Emma carried on with the teasing tone.

"You'll see," Regina answered mysteriously.

"Hot cocoa…" Emma said happily after a little while as she realized what Regina was making.

"No, no, don't put cinnamon," Emma stammered and made signs with her hands when she saw Regina was about to sprinkle their cups with it.

"I don't understand, that's how you like it dear and how you always have it." Regina had really wanted to make Emma happy and she thought that was going to make her happy. She could not see why she looked so sad about it. Until it hit her. "Oh… Is this because of your mother?" Of course it was. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Emma could feel Regina was being genuine. It was just that Emma did not know what to answer back. "I understand, you know. But don't let her take away every little things that makes you who you are and everything that you like," Regina carried on.

"But it ties me up to her, it's a family trait, she likes it this way, that's why I like it this way and why Henry likes it this way… and I don't want to be related to her, I don't want anything that reminds me that I am part of her."

"Emma, you're nothing like her. You're your own person." Usually, she was being told not to say such things, that she was just being upset, that she would not think the same things in the morning and that she would regret saying them. She was so sick of it. She was glad Regina had not said anything like that, that Regina had understood and that she was not trying to reconcile her and her mother. But, then again, Emma did not know what to answer her friend, so she said nothing. Regina noticed and she carried on. "Besides, you should know that drinking a cup of cocoa with cinnamon is not actually a quirk of your mother," She finished in a wink and a smile.

"It's not?" asked Emma confused.

"Can't you think of someone who took care of both your mother and Henry as children and might have introduced them to it?" Regina said making a funny face.

"You?" Emma asked surprised.

"Exactly." Regina flashed a bright smile at her.

Emma laughed. "You know, it's actually disturbing to think that you were a step-mother to my mother, that you knew her as a child and also raised our son."

Regina laughed in turn. It was definitely not something they had yet wrapped their heads around. Choosing not to comment on how disturbing it truly was, she said in a more serious tone: "You know, I wasn't much of a mother to Snow…" Regina was cut off.

"So how…?" Emma asked confused again.

"It's just that… I had known her before she had my fiancé… before my mother killed Daniel. It was only for a few days. She was just this little girl, so grateful to me for saving her life. Her father had already proposed to me and my mother had just accepted. We were having tea time together, because a lady never misses her tea time. They wanted us to bond so we could soon become a family. And we did indeed. I told young Snow I was never much one for tea, I was just pretending to please my mother. What I really liked however was hot cocoa but with cinnamon, always soothed me and lifted my spirits. She had never tasted it. So, I gave her a cup and she confided in me. It looked like it was exactly what she needed at the time. She was just this little girl that had lost her mother way too soon. She looked better afterwards. Although, I don't know which help, the company or the cocoa." As she confided in Emma, Regina went through a range of emotions she had not been experienced in decades. Emma knew she was living the moments and everything it was making her think about anew as she talked about them. And most of the moments and emotions looked utterly unpleasant.

"What did she tell you?" Of all the questions she could have asked on the subject, that was the one Emma chose. So typical of her. But it seemed to have worked its magic because soon a smile appeared on Regina's face.

"That, my dear, is between me and your mother." Regina said in a wink. "Cheers!" she said cheerfully as she raised her cup.

"Cheers!" Emma clink the cups together.

Regina drank from her cup while Emma sprinkled her own with cinnamon. Regina noticed and although she decided against pointing it out, she could not help smiling at it.

"Thank you," Emma said simply. Regina raised her eyebrows, confused, asking a silent question." I love that you're the reason I love my cocoa this way… and it's totally the company," Emma told her in a wink.

Regina was beaming.

"Although, the cocoa is not that bad either," Emma could not help teasing Regina. In truth, it was delicious. Regina made a mean hot cocoa, one that beat Granny's for sure.

Of course Emma could not have left it to that, Regina thought. She pretended to be offended but was not very convincing, which made Emma laughed. "Be careful, Miss Swan before insulting my cooking… " Regina said playing along.

A/N:It is something that I wanted to write for a long time. Finally got around to finish it these days. Thought it could be possible that Snow, Emma and Henry liked their hot cocoa with cinnamon thanks to Regina. It would still be a family trait but would include Regina as well. :D

Anyways, I hope you liked it. Tell me what you think. ;)


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